Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured Prime Minister Tony Abbott and other world leaders that Russia will support an independent investigation into MH17 and help return the 298 ­bodies to their home countries, the first sign Mr Putin is bending to intense international pressure.

The Abbott government was hopeful on Monday night that the United Nations Security Council, in which ­Russia has the power of veto, would back an Australian-led resolution on the shooting down of flight MH17 when the vote was scheduled at 5am, Tuesday, Australian Eastern Time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) has taken issue with Prime Minister Tony Abbott – who led the world in blaming Russia and bringing pressure to bear – for “politicising” the destruction of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Photo: Reuters

Britain, France and Germany have warned Russia it will face further sanctions on Tuesday unless it ensures investigators are given full access to the crash site.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

Amid fierce negotiations in New York, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, was been pressuring the Security Council to water down the resolution.

The Russians demanded the reference in the resolution to the plane being “shot down’’ be changed to “downed".

Mr Abbott said “there is really no doubt that this plane was shot down’’ but ultimately the government would not quibble over a word if it risked the resolution failing.

Abbott, Putin talk

Sources told the Financial Review that the federal government remained sceptical because the assurances Mr Putin gave Mr Abbott over the phone were completely at odds with the ­television images and reports from the crash scene which showed ongoing desecration of the site.

Following the phone call, Mr Abbott described the situation at the crash site as “absolutely shambolic".

Mr Putin took issue with Mr Abbott – who led the world in blaming Russia and bringing pressure to bear – for “politicising" the issue. Subsequently, Mr Abbott maintained his resolve but softened his tone slightly so as to not put at risk Russian co-operation.

With 37 Australian ­citizens and residents among the dead, Mr Abbott said the government’s ­priorities were threefold: retrieve the dead, investigate the site and punish the guilty.

He demanded that Russia exert its influence over the rebels, which it backs, and which control the area of Ukraine over which the plane was brought down.

Mr Abbott said there were now 45 Australian officials either in Kiev or en route to the Ukrainian capital.

They will be led by Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston who led the search for missing plane MH370 and has now has been appointed as a special envoy ton co-ordinate Australia’s consular, ­diplomatic, disaster and crash site investigations over flight MH17.

An Australian Air Force C-17 military transport plane is on standby to fly to the Ukraine to bring home the dead.

Russia promises co-operation

Sources cautioned it was not known where the plane would land and there were fears it, too, could be shot down unless order were restored.

Mr Abbott and Mr Putin spoke for about 30 minutes and Mr Abbott said Mr Putin “said all the right things’’.

In a statement posted on the Kremlin website, Mr Putin said he supported a crash investigation by a “full team of experts" under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation ­Organisation, a UN agency.

Mr Abbott declined to be drawn on the prospect of Mr Putin being banned from the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Brisbane in November.

“There’s a lot of water that will almost certainly flow under the bridge between now and November. I just think it’s unhelpful to start speculating about what might happen in four months from now," he said.

Mr Abbott, who began phoning the families of the victims on Monday, vowed “we will not rest until we have done all we humanly can to retrieve the bodies, to secure the site and to ensure justice’’.

On Monday, he met in Canberra with the ambassadors of al the nations who had citizens killed in the atrocity.

“The only way that justice can be done for the dead and for their families is if the bodies are treated with respect and dignity and are taken to a place where they can be properly handled, where things can be properly investigated, and where ultimately they can be ­repatriated back home," he told them.

“We picked up the imagery of this launch. We know the trajectory. We know where it came from. We know the timing."

Mr Morozov appealed for the ­international community not to rush to judgment over who was responsible for downing the aircraft, pointing out that Ukrainian government forces ­possessed the type of weapons which could down an airliner by mistake.

He also contacted ­German Chancellor
Angela Merkel
and French President
Francois Hollande
, while he has previously spoken to New Zealand Prime Minister
John Key
.

And ailing carrier Malaysia Airlines may be taken private by its major ­government shareholder or enter bankruptcy protection to allow it to renegotiate contracts with unions.

Bloomberg on Monday cited people familiar with the matter as saying those would be among the turnaround options presented by the airline’s board to its majority shareholder, Khazanah Nasional, this week.